Em and I are both racing 5430 Long Course Tri this weekend. This will serve as a final prep race for me before IM Canada on August 24th. I've been training hard these last few weeks, keeping my head down and grinding out long rides, runs, and even swims!
These last 10 days, we had a training guest with us. Tobias Wohlferdt used to work for the German bike company Isaac (www.isaac-carbon.com). When I met him last August in Germany at Eurobike, he said he was training for IM Wisconsin this year. Since he now lives in the Chicago flatlands, he needed a bit of a mix up during his final build-up so he came out to Boulder. He's been getting in near daily 5-6 hour rides and even ran the entire Magnolia run out to the Peak to Peak with us last Sunday. I wish him well at Wisconsin where he's aiming for a slot to Kona for '09. If everything goes as planned (which it never does in IM) then he should have no problem qualifying.
Back to 5430 this weekend. Tobias leaves this afternoon and David Thompson comes in tomorrow. We were a bit of luck for him last year as he set the course record and smoked the Pro field, eventhough his bike arrived late from the airport on race morning! He is a tough bastard and will definately contend for the win again this weekend. We raced together back in Minnesota when I first got into triathlon after college and Em and David's wife, Hannah, went to middle school back in New Hampshire together.
Training for IM Canada has been a rollercoaster these last two months. After completing the Mt.Evans/Boulder Peak Tri double, I convinced myself I wasn't ready for the challenge of another ironman. But, just one week later with two long runs of over 13-miles under my belt (yes, that's a long run for me!), I felt on target again. I've been swimming 45-minute straight open water swim at the Boulder Res Tuesday and Thursday mornings (4-laps) these last two weeks and have ridden Big Thompson and reverse Big Thompson back-to-back weekends. So, no excuses...I'm ready for August 24th.
My housemate and resident bike mechanic, Gavin "Savloy" Scott, helped change out my chainrings yesterday, so I'll be racing this weekend on my monster 56x44. I took this off at the beginning of the season, but my bike form is good again to where I can push this dinner plate looking chainring around the flats and up in the mountains.
Today is a complete day of rest, and WORK, but I'm hoping to hit up the local golf course for a quick 9-holes after work. It's a great way to get the head away from the upcoming race and focus or stress-out about something entirely different.
On another note, Em is now two weeks into her new job with local triathlon legend, Bob Cranny. This is the third PT business for Bob and Em is really stoked with how professional the practice is.
Smooth riding,
Lars
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